Charles R. Granger, Ph.D.

Professor of Biology and EducationCurators’ Teaching Professor

Department of Educator Preparation and Leadership

Dr. Charles R. Granger is a professor of biology and education and Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor. He has directed 18 programs in science education, 15 of which he created and originated on the UM-St. Louis campus. He created the structure, guided the development and served as project director of the St. Louis Regional Science and Technology Career Access Center, a $3.8 million N.S.F. Career Access Opportunities Project that formed a consortium with St. Louis Public Schools, Harris-Stowe State College, St. Louis Community College, University of Missouri-Rolla, and the University of Missouri-St. Louis as partners. This highly successful, five-year program served some 1,200 students, grades 3-12 year, forming a pipeline of talent, and enhancing minority presence in careers in science and technology. He has created three major projects for the enhancement of science education in the St. Louis area and that could serve as models for national initiatives. The Corner Science Store is a freestanding, private sector-based, satellite facility that incorporates a cascading, pyramidal instructional strategy to change pedagogy and curriculum in science and math of targeted school systems. This project received the St. Louis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and Construction Products Council Award for Excellence in Unbuilt Projects. He led the N.S.F.-funded RECEPT consortium of six universities and six school systems to restructure math/science teacher preparation and school science and math instruction. RECEPT would reach of 90% of the K-6 teachers educated in the St. Louis area. With Monte C. Throdahl, the Regional Institute for Science Education was established as a partnership for increasing science literacy that involved collaboration between informal science education institutions, schools, higher education, and the private technical community to develop a concerted effort to improve science education in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

He directed the Junior Science Programs at the University of Missouri including the Junior Science, Engineering and Humanities Symposium for 39 years. He conceived and directed the George Engelmann Mathematics and Science Institute and Students and Teachers As Research Scientists (STARS) program for high ability, high school students that received the first National Anderson Medal for the Business-Higher Education Form and award for education partnerships. The Engelmann Institute was also named as a “What Works” exemplary program by the St. Louis Metropolitan Association for Philanthropy and the St. Louis Business Journal.

Affiliations

Dr. Charles R. Granger is a professor of biology and education and Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor. He has directed 18 programs in science education, 15 of which he created and originated on the UM-St. Louis campus. He created the structure, guided the development and served as project director of the St. Louis Regional Science and Technology Career Access Center, a $3.8 million N.S.F. Career Access Opportunities Project that formed a consortium with St. Louis Public Schools, Harris-Stowe State College, St. Louis Community College, University of Missouri-Rolla, and the University of Missouri-St. Louis as partners. This highly successful, five-year program served some 1,200 students, grades 3-12 year, forming a pipeline of talent, and enhancing minority presence in careers in science and technology. He has created three major projects for the enhancement of science education in the St. Louis area and that could serve as models for national initiatives. The Corner Science Store is a freestanding, private sector-based, satellite facility that incorporates a cascading, pyramidal instructional strategy to change pedagogy and curriculum in science and math of targeted school systems. This project received the St. Louis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and Construction Products Council Award for Excellence in Unbuilt Projects. He led the N.S.F.-funded RECEPT consortium of six universities and six school systems to restructure math/science teacher preparation and school science and math instruction. RECEPT would reach of 90% of the K-6 teachers educated in the St. Louis area. With Monte C. Throdahl, the Regional Institute for Science Education was established as a partnership for increasing science literacy that involved collaboration between informal science education institutions, schools, higher education, and the private technical community to develop a concerted effort to improve science education in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

He directed the Junior Science Programs at the University of Missouri including the Junior Science, Engineering and Humanities Symposium for 39 years. He conceived and directed the George Engelmann Mathematics and Science Institute and Students and Teachers As Research Scientists (STARS) program for high ability, high school students that received the first National Anderson Medal for the Business-Higher Education Form and award for education partnerships. The Engelmann Institute was also named as a “What Works” exemplary program by the St. Louis Metropolitan Association for Philanthropy and the St. Louis Business Journal.

Granger has received many awards for innovative teaching. He was the first recipient of the University of Missouri, all-campus, Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching that carried a $15,000 honorarium. He has been the recipient of the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and the AMOCO Foundation and Burlington Northern Teaching Awards. He was placed on the national Top 10 Professors’ Honor Roll by Rolling Stone Magazine and was named the Stand and Deliver Awardee in Teaching by the American Association for Higher Education. In 2000 he was named as Distinguished Teaching Professor by the University of Missouri System which carries an annual endowment of $10,000. He teaches special life science methods for prospective high school teachers, supervises student teachers, teaches Biology Senior Seminar, and has taught more than 18,000 students in General Biology 1012. He supervises both undergraduate and graduate independent research.

Granger was elected a Fellow of the Missouri Academy of Science. He was cited for creation of the Naturalistic Education Theory, which opened the way for systematic sequencing of teaching science concepts and curriculum reform. He served as secretary on the Board of Directors of the Academy of Science of St. Louis and is chair of the Committee On Education. Granger authored the commissioned report by the Academy that outlined the needs and strategy for developing “The Partnership for Increasing Science Literacy.”

He was a Co-PI for the ten million dollar N.S.F. grant that established the Center for Inquiry Science Teaching and Learning (CISTL) partnership with Washington University and three informal science education institutions. As part of CISTL he created and directed a doctoral graduate program entitled “Cooperative Approach to Doctoral Research in Education” (CADRE), a program that sponsored, funded, and mentored 40 outstanding science education professionals working together toward their doctorates.

Granger initiated and wrote the proposals to fund the first two UMSL $550,000 endowed professorships in science education with his friend E. Desmond Lee. This initiative led to more than a dozen endowed professorships on the UMSL campus.

As chair of the Department of Biology for six years he developed the B.S. and M.S. degree programs and developed and wrote the proposal for the Ph.D. in Biology.

Currently he is developing, engineering and testing a universal interdisciplinary science curriculum based on his Naturalistic Education Theory (NET). He is also a Co-PI on a $10 million dollar grant to the National Science Foundation to establish a Center for Plant Lipid Studies that involves the Danforth Plant Science Center and a consortium of 10 institutions of higher education.

Education
Professor Granger earned a B.S. in botany and zoology from Iowa State University, an M.S. in Biology and an M.S. in science education, both from the University of Pennsylvania, and Ph.D. in plant physiology and science education from the University of Iowa. He is a member of numerous professional associations, including the Biology Association for Teachers, the National Science Supervisors Association, and the National Association for Research in Science Education. Professor Granger has received numerous teaching awards, including the University of Missouri system Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching and is Secretary of The Academy of Science of St. Louis.

Research and Teaching
My recent writings have dealt with reform in science education, particularly that grounded in unified learning theory. I also have made numerous presentations on the UM-St. Louis collaborative programs in science education, especially those involving middle and high school partners. I hold two U.S. patents in physical and biological processes.

I enjoy teaching General Biology and supervising student teachers and student research. In addition to my teaching duties, I originated the Regional Institute for Science Education and the Engelmann Math and Science Institute for high ability high school students. I am currently the Director of the Junior Science Engineering and Humanities Symposium, the Students and Teachers as Research Scientists (STARS), and the S.T.E.P. Teacher Inservice Program. I am also Co-PI of the Center for Inquiry in Science Teaching and Learning (CISTL) and Co-PI of Missouri Science Teaching and Education Partnerships (MO-STEP).

Granger, C.R. (1998). Defining and Assessing Scientific Literacy for the 21st Century, Academy of Science of St. Louis, 43 pages. (A Report on the Strategic Planning Symposium for the Advancement of Sci. Ed.).